Skylanders: The Fall
by Shadowdawn199
Summary: The Skylanders; an elite military organisation of the highest calibre, ready to defend any who need them, no matter the cost. They've never let Skylands fall… yet.
1. Chapter 1

_**Skylanders: Portals is finally here, *cheers* and it is very different from how I first imagined it. There are a lot of the same elements as the first draft, but there are some things I need to warn you about that have changed since I wrote that last chapter in Skylanders: Giant of old.**_

_**One, and I know some of you asked, so I'm here to answer. No, no OCs, and no Alternate form Skylanders will be appearing in this Fanfiction. I said I wanted to cut down on characters, didn't I? I couldn't do that with the multitude of OCs you all had sent me (though they are all very awesome and all very appreciated for the gesture) and Skylanders of alternate form, that boosts the count way too high up.**_

_**Next, this has pairings. Okay, so why would I be warning you about that? Because I have slash, and femslash pairings, that's why. So, you know the drill. Don't like it, don't read it.**_

_**Finally, I have one one-shot, Jailcat, (though there will be more later), that explains character backstories, all connected to this universe. They will expand on things I may mention here. **_

_**You must just want to get into reading this, so I'll finish this now. I'd do a disclaimer, but the hint is that this is being posted on 'Fanfiction'.**_

Chapter One

Tornado

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Skylanders are real.

But...

The real Skylanders are nothing like what those on Earth believe them to be. What they do is not child friendly, not as cutesy nor as safe as those who have played the Earth made games may be led to believe. They are not silly group of fighters who somehow manage to keep the forces of evil at bay.

No. In actuality, the Skylanders are an elite military organisation, full of hardened and toughened warriors who fight the Darkness with their lives. They shed much blood, sweat and tears to keep Skylands safe from all those who endeavour to do it harm.

Though the unit may be full of the same warriors as the Earth games, in every other aspect the games are a sugar coated deception, intended to be something that Earth children, either young or old, may play, and something that will help them dream of heroes.

But in real life, heroes aren't the ones winning the battle, they don't fight in the wars. They don't keep Skylands from falling.

We do.

We, the Skylanders, do.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Cynder slipped into a shadow dash as a boulder came flashing overhead, slamming into the rock spire at her back. She dodged the falling spire and jumped back out of the shadows. She raced through a smashed gate, breathing electricity at several of the vicious little creatures nicknamed Chompies who were swarming around the area, gnashing their teeth at everything.

"How close is the tornado?" she yelled into her communications line as she swooped across a gap between islands.

-Too close for comfort! Get them out, and quickly!- Quickstorm yelled back. Cynder could almost imagine the hare panicking as she ducked through the wreckage of the Royal barracks.

Cynder flew up a flight of stairs, and stopped as she reached the courtyard of the grand palace. The winds whipped around Cynder fiercely, and she saw the tornado bearing down on the palace. The dragoness dug her claws into cracks in the cobbles, and fought her way through the gale to the heavy iron gate that trapped the Royal Family and their staff inside.

Cynder cursed when she realised the gate could not be wrenched open. It was locked. Cynder growled furiously and looked around for any sign of a key. A golden glimmer caught her eye.

The key sat tangled up in the roots of a plant, a flower bush that looked like it could be wrenched free from the ground at any moment by the storm that swirled around.

Cynder darted back into shadow form and sped across the yard as the wind gave a final tug, and the plant ripped free. Cynder leapt, and snagged the key while still in partial shadow form.

She turned, threw herself forwards into the gate, and pushed the key into the lock. She spun it, and the gate opened. All the royals and servants were quivering by the gate, and several jumped as Cynder banged the gate open.

"Oh, thank you Skylander-" A Mabu began, but Cynder cut across them.

"Everybody move! The tornado will rip this place apart any second now!" Cynder roared, struggling to keep her balance as the winds inside the palace proper tried to throw her footing.

The Mabu scurried past her, obeying. Cynder watched, shepherding them out as quickly as possible, and as the last Mabu ran free, the palace began to collapse, and was sucked into the tornado. Cynder bolted out as the island fell behind her, and she activated her portal link. A portal appeared beneath her, and another beneath the Mabu, and they fell into the portals.

"Cut that a bit close, huh Cynder?" a voice said beside her. Cynder scowled at Camo. The plant dragon hybrid was standing next to Cali in the evacuation zone, lending the Portal Anchor strength as she readied another Portal.

A faint popping noise occurred as Whirlwind appeared, leaping through Cali's portal, her long tail feathers trailing behind her. Cali staggered, exhausted, and Camo propped her up.

"Light, Caem will need to supply me with more Portal Magic next time. Those last few jumps were killing me," Cali moaned, the normally strong Portal Anchor laid low.

Whirlwind's horn glowed golden briefly, and she shot strength to Cali. Camo sent a strong pulse of green Life energy to Cali as well.

"I wish I could hold as much Portal Magic as your Commcrystals," Cali sighed, sitting down in the grass to rest.

Cynder snorted, throwing her head so the dark crystal hanging around her neck caught the sunlight, refracting purple lights around. "Well, these things are ancient. Maybe the old Skylanders, the really old ones, knew enchantments we don't. At least they can hold open half the portal for you," Cynder replied, shaking her crystal one last time and fading it out of sight.

Cali nodded in reply, too tired to do much else.

Cynder turned to Whirlwind now. "Before the call comes to leave everything to an Evac team, why don't we go off and make ourselves useful as common pack mules?" Cynder suggested sarcastically.

"May as well. There isn't much else we can do, " Whirlwind replied, nodding.

Cynder started off, then turned back to Camo, who was helping Cali to sit on a rock. "Coming?" The dragoness asked, as Whirlwind took off ahead. Camo placed a claw against his chest.

"Oh no, Cynder, I'll leave the heavy lifting to strong ladies like you," Camo sighed dramatically. He sat down by Cali and waved the dragoness off.

Cynder rolled her eyes and, pumping her wings, took to the sky and caught up with Whirlwind.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

-Units One through Six, report back to base! Good job guys, pull out and let the Militia's Evac unit do their work-

Spyro banked to the left and let out a sigh of relief. "You heard the man!" he called to the rest of his squadron. They looked up, and set down any loads they were carrying by the waiting balloons that crowded the evacuation zone. As Spyro watched, gliding above, they disappeared one by one. Satisfied, he nodded and wheeled in a circle, counting off those that had portaled out safely.

There was a Skylander missing. Hmm... Spyro glided back, trying to find...

"Jet-Vac! Come on, this tornado is ripping the island apart, this isn't going to stay a safe zone much longer! Let the Evac team take care of that!" he called, finding the Sky Baron, who was helping a healer load her supplies onto her airship.

His call going unheard, Spyro swooped down, and hovering near the errant Skylander, opened his mouth to call to him again.

"Here, Spyro, take this." Jet-Vac put a basket in the dragon's open mouth, and Spyro landed.

"Put it over here, please." The healer directed the purple dragon to the other side of the ship, and took the basket from him. He spat the wooden basket taste out of his mouth, and turned to find Jet-Vac. The Sky baron had disappeared.

Cursing under his breath, Spyro darted around the airship, and ran through the crowd of refugees and balloons, searching for Jet-Vac.

-Spyro!- the crackle came over the comms line.

-Why are you not out of there yet? Evac's in and that means you should be out! Come- The dragon clawed at his Commcrystal, switched the communication device off, cutting the speech. He was growling as he swung his head to the right.

_There he is, _he thought, catching a glimpse of elusive blue and white. Spyro ran over to the Sky Baron, jumping baskets and dodging mabu, as the other Skylander helped a couple secure their goods in a balloon.

"Jet-Vac! We are going, now!" he growled angrily, ignoring any looks he got as he stomped over to the Baron and reared up, placing his front paws on Jet-Vac's shoulders. Looking the surprised Skylander in the face, he activated his portal link.

The next second they were in the Debriefing room, and Spyro flared his wings angrily. "What were you thinking? We get them out, then the Evacuation team does the rest! Don't you listen to your comms line?" he snarled, shaking his horns. Jet-Vac clicked his beak anxiously, ready to defend himself to the angry dragon.

"Quit it, Spyro," a voice called from behind him. The purple dragon sighed at the sound.

"Cynder…" Spyro began, jumping off Jet-Vac and turning around. The black dragoness stared him square in the face, eyebrow arched.

"Cut it out, Spyro." Cynder replied, walking up to the Skylander in question.

"You know he doesn't work with an Evac team very often. And he isn't the only one who turns off his comms, now is he? I seem to remember a time when _you _refused to keep one on," she reminded sharply, before going up to the shame-faced Baron.

"Let's go get you cleaned up, hey? That's a nasty gash on your side. I bet Skylar has just the trick," the dragoness told him, leading him out of the room. The two Skylanders left, Jet-Vac avoiding looking at anything but the floor.

Spyro sat down heavily, staring at forlornly at the softly pulsing Portal crystal embedded in the ceiling.

"That was some crazy tornado, hey? Wasn't it Spyro?" The purple dragon looked up at the speaker.

Camo was flicking his tail back and forth, and smiling as usual. But it was a small smile. That tornado had rattled all of them.

"I don't know what had the Air Element so riled up," Whirlwind frowned, shaking her head.

Stealth Elf replied, "I don't know. The Elements are going crazy nowadays." She scowled, "And Kaos has no idea what has gone wrong," she finished bitterly, crossing her arms.

Camo shook his head, "Kaos is only good for seeing the present. Whatever has gone wrong is in the past and the future, so he can't see it," the life dragon said, scuffing his paws.

"I wish Eon was still with us," Whirlwind said softly. The others nodded.

"At least Eon wasn't useless." Stealth Elf muttered, scowling. Spyro got up and walked over to the Skylander.

"Don't bash the poor guy, Stealth. Kaos doesn't deserve it," Spyro reminded the elf, who harrumphed, then sighed.

"Well, what's the point of having a seer if he can't see what we need him to?" The elf asked, though the fight had gone out of her.

Whirlwind shrugged, "Come on Stealthy, let's hit the baths." The hybrid perked up at the thought, poking her friend with her horn and pushing her out the room.

"Don't call me Stealthy." Came the faint retort as they departed.

Camo yawned and stretched, tail curling, "Shall we hit the baths too, eh Spyro?" Spyro sighed dramatically, even though he couldn't wait to wash off the dirt from his scales. "If we must," he replied.

"We must." Camo assured him as they left the room, a spring in his step. Spyro assumed that was because he couldn't wait to see Sunburn, who would certainly be preening himself in the bath house by now.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Whoever invented those baths is a genius, I tell you," Camo said, coming into the meeting room, Sunburn and Spyro on his heels.

Cynder, who was sitting closest to the door, shook her head at them, while Tessa, who was next to the black dragoness, nodded her head.

Spyro squeezed in next to Cynder, who huffed at him, as Drobot rose from the round table. The tech dragon scanned their faces, then sighed. "Look, captains and lieutentants." He gestured to the large projector screen behind him. As they watched, the symbol of the Air element flashed onto the screen, followed closely by the symbol for Water.

"Some of you may not be aware, so before I start I'll give you the brief. The Air Element went mad today, tearing apart the Royal Mabu Castle and the surrounding islands. Spyro led a team to investigate, and found no traces of any Dark influences. Some creatures of the Air element were found behaving strangely in sites nearby, but none were doing any harm like the Water Element in the Domed City. Everyone evacuated safely."

Everyone around the table winced. Last month the Water Element had broken the dome that held back the ocean from the aptly named Domed City, and the place had flooded. Thousands had drowned, and smaller Water Elementals had started to rampage and kill anyone fleeing. The Skylanders had barely managed to get everyone still alive out of the city safely.

Drobot whirred his gears to regain attention, "This is the second Element to destroy lands they watch over, and I'm sure none of you think this is a coincidence. On every site, however, there has been no traces of tampering, no Dark forces, no nothing that could set the Elements off."

Now Hugo, Drobot's second in information, got up, "All we can find is a slight elemental imbalance in the area before the… attacks, I suppose. And this was caused by the Elements themselves, so we have no clue about what is going on. Kaos has also been able to see nothing, and Spy Rise, Ash and Mesmerelda have found nothing as well in their networks." The mabu pushed up his glasses, a nervous habit.

Stealth Elf stood, and asked, "So all you have for us is depressing news? Was that all we were called here for?" Hugo and Drobot nodded sadly, and the elf snorted, and stalked out.

The projection disappeared then, and Spyro called out, "I guess that's it. Meeting adjourned. Go and spread the word, but otherwise you're free for the day, unless you've got patrol."

Cynder looked at him as the other Skylanders filed out, murmuring quietly to themselves. "I don't say this lightly, Spyro. I'm afraid something big is going to happen."

The purple dragon nodded, "I'm even more afraid that you'll be right," he replied, and the dragoness sighed, and walked away.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kaos stared into the bowl, and watched them all leave. _Looks like she's already right, Spyro, _he thought, just as his head exploded with agony. His mental barricades nearly went down, and he fell as he struggled to keep them in place.

When he could stand and the barriers against his Sight were fixed, he commanded the bowl to show him the main Portal in the hall.

It wasn't there.

And neither were the Portal Anchors, or the Portal Masters.

They'd all just… disappeared.

Kaos cursed, then ran to fetch Spyro.

_**A big round of applause for my beta, HadesNecromancer. He is truly a saviour of prose.**_

_**And to my friend, Bluecat6, who read over my rough drafts and pointed out what could be improved, even though she wasn't a beta and didn't know the fandom. **_

_**Also, a special mention to another of my helpers, Seraph of Enigma, for listening patiently while I rambled, and forming the half coherent ideas I talked about into more coherent ones.**_

_**All of you guys, I thank you all deeply, for doing what you did to get the story to where it is now. **_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Lost Contact

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Miss? Miss, are you okay?"

Caem frowned, and blearily opened her eyes. "Oh good. Miss, are you okay? What are you doing here?" a voice next to her asked. Caem turned her head, and jumped back.

It took her addled brain several seconds to come to the realisation that if a dog was kneeling down and talking to her, that meant she was in a different part of Skylands from the Citadel.

Oh, no. This was _not_ going to be happening today.

The dog must have seen the irritation on her face, because he cocked his head to one side and looked worriedly at her. "Miss, what's wrong?" he asked, and Caem groaned.

"Help me up, please," she said, though it sounded a bit more like a command than a request.

The dog stood up and reached out a hand. Caem took it, and the dog helped her up. Caem steadied herself on the wall she hadn't noticed she'd been resting on. The dog watched, then spoke, "Miss… may I ask what you're doing here? Normally people don't appear out of nowhere. Do you think you could explain to me what has happened?"

The dog was so well mannered that she almost opened her mouth straight away to reply. Caem frowned, though, and thought. She had no idea what had happened, or whether she should be telling this seemingly polite dog anything. Eventually she sighed, and gave in.

"Look, I'm a Portal Master, and I don't know why I'm here," she told him.

She thought some more, and added, "Where exactly is here, anyway?" Caem asked him. The dog looked around in alarm, then inched just a little closer.

"You're on a pirate Skyland. In fact, you're on one of the main port islands," he murmured, eyeing her carefully.

Caem took a good long look at the dog now. He had dark brown fur, and cream sock colouring, stretching up to his elbows and the end of his feet. He was swishing his large, wolfish tail to and fro, and his pricked ears were torn and nicked in all sorts of places. The dog wore an old blue sleeveless vest, which was unbuttoned, and his long baggy pants, fastened by a tattered red sash, were so faded they were no longer the original colouring, but a washed out, patchy grey. He looked the part of a pirate.

But it was the medallion he wore around his neck that should've clued her in the most. It was small, but heavy gold, and in the shape of a pirate symbol, which was a spiralling shell when looked at from the right angle. But he wore it hanging by the point so it looked more like a spiral in the shape of a teardrop. And from the centre going outwards along the spiral line were black spikes, small and inlaid into the medallion. The dog wore it on a ragged cord, and it sat pride of place on his bared chest.

The dog caught her looking at it, and stared at her, frowning, "Wait, miss, why are you still here? I thought you would just portal out when I told you where you are. Quickly now, it isn't very safe for you here," he said, looking puzzled then urgent.

Caem nodded, and reached for a portal. She found nothing. Nothing. Caem barely kept from panicking. "I can't. It's gone… I can't portal out," she said, proud of how calm she sounded. Caem didn't scare easily, and was highly regarded amongst the Skylanders for her ability to work under pressure. But this had her spooked now.

"Miss, don't worry about that. I promise I'll help you out of here, okay? I know ships that'll take you where you need to go. On my honour," he said, holding out a paw. Caem raised a slender eyebrow.

"Pirates have honour?" she said, watching him curiously. The dog smiled at that, withdrawing his paw.

He cocked his head, then replied, "Well, Miss. Looks like you're going to have to figure that one out for yourself. Now, if you'll follow me?" He smiled again, and walked a few paces away, then glanced back.

Caem snorted, but followed him. She couldn't portal out of here, and it wasn't like there was anyone else who was willing to help, now was there? So what did she have to lose?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Ash! Ash, where are you?" Spyro called, racing through the volcano grounds, home base of the Fire Element Skylanders, kicking up clouds of dust and ash as he swung his head around, peering through the smog.

"Spyro?" A voice called. Spyro spun around, and growled when not Ash, as he'd hoped, but Eruptor stepped of the murk.

"Spyro, calm it. What's wrong? Why do you need Ash?" Spyro flared his nostrils, and pawed at the ground, staining his claws grey.

"Eruptor, all the portals are missing. So are the Portal Masters, and the Portal Anchors. I need Ash. He'll be able to tell me if anything came in or out and took them, Kaos didn't see and I doubt Spy Rise or Mesmerelda will find anything, you know how they are," the purple dragon panted quickly, as he looked around, searching wildly.

Eruptor stared at him in shock, "Blaze… Spyro, I last saw him by the hot springs." Spyro dipped his head in thanks and began to race away.

Eruptor called after him, "I'll round up anyone here and we'll get back to the Citadel. I'm pretty sure there's Giant active who can help us if the islands aren't connected." Spyro dipped his head again, in acknowledgment, and ran faster.

The lava monster muttered to himself, "I hope this isn't too serious… no. Things _are_ getting serious. Now, where did that dragoness and dog get off too?" he muttered, hurrying off in the other direction from the dust cloud that was Spyro.

Spyro ran though the gorge, and slowed as he reached the lava pools. Long ago, a mighty river had flowed through the gorge, and rammed into the volcano. Over the years, the torrent had dried, but not before it had left a large depression, a bowl shaped cut out of the ground and the volcano's base.

Spyro slowed down, and entered the steamy cloud that signalled the start of the hot springs, and shivered in spite of himself. It was nice and hot, and Spyro liked it hot.

"Ash!" the dragon called, swing his head around. He spotted movement in one of the pools, and went over.

"Spyro," a smooth voice called, and a horse emerged elegantly from the pool. He was small, only a head taller than Spyro, and his charcoal coat gleamed with water. His black mane, normally wild and spiky and covering one side of his face, was plastered down against his short fur, as was his dripping tail.

It was Ash. His usually white forehead blaze and the patch over his eye was now dyed a dark grey, and the large, elongated heart shaped colouring on his chest had stained into a deep red. It was normally a bright magenta. Two upside down teardrops, their points facing towards the heart's tip, sat inside the round parts of the heart, and were now a black colour instead of a dark blue. His underbelly was usually the same magenta as his heart, but it was now burgundy, as it had clearly been sitting in the water for a longer time.

Ash shook himself, spraying droplets everywhere. He then looked to Spyro, and asked, "Do you mind if I light it up? Only it takes my coat an awfully long time to dry, otherwise."

Spyro shrugged, indicating he didn't mind. Ash stamped his shiny gold hooves, and fire rippled along the stallion, showing his true colours and returning his mane to its wild state, before it vanished and left him completely dry.

Spyro opened his mouth now, and said in a rush, "Ash, someone's taken the Portals and the Portal Anchors and the Portals Masters. Kaos didn't see it, so he can't help. Mesmerelda and Spy Rise are looking into it right now, but I don't think they'll find anything. Can you see if you can?"

Ash blinked, shock passing over his face. He struggled, then regained his cool composure. "Spyro, you didn't even need to ask. Blazes, we're in trouble. Come on, let's go," he said, taking a step towards the gorge. Spyro smiled breathlessly at him, and ran through the gorge mouth.

Ash cantered after him, splashing though the pool and into the gorge.

Cynder yawned, snapping her jaws shut, and glared at Eruptor. "I like my sleep. Spyro knows this. You know this. So give me one good reason why I shouldn't electrocute you," she growled, standing up and jumping off the rock she'd been sleeping on.

Eruptor swallowed. The black-purple dragoness had always scared him, just a little, even though he knew she probably didn't eat lava monsters. He opened his mouth, closed it again, then cleared his throat.

Luckily, Hot Dog saved him. The fire hound barked at Cynder, who redirected her smouldering blue eyes at him. Hot Dog didn't even shrink back.

"Spyro said it was urgent. _Really_ urgent. He isn't stupid, no one wakes you unless they have to," the hound said, staring at the dragoness.

Cynder snorted, scowling, "So, what's the big news? Is the Citadel on fire? Is Hugo being attacked by sheep again? Is Flynn stuck up his-" She paused, and rounded on Spyro, who'd just run up, trailing Ash.

"Spyro. Why did you wake me?" The words themselves sounded nice enough, but it was the way Cynder ground them out that made them anything but.

Spyro wasn't in the mood for this, "The Portals are missing. The Anchors and Portal Masters are gone as well. We think they've been stolen," he said sharply, looking at the dragoness.

Cynder's scowl slipped, and she stared at Spyro, in shock. Hot Dog barked his disbelief behind them.

Cynder blinked, and blinked again, then said, serious now, "Tree Rex is by the beach. I'll get him to connect the islands around there, and we'll bring everyone in. Look for Hot Head in the lava tunnels."

Spyro nodded, and Cynder ran to the edge of the island, and leapt off. A few seconds later, she appeared, pumping her wings. Spyro took off again, heading towards the tunnels.

"Gotta love Cynder sometimes. Tell her something like that and she'll be a perfect little soldier, obeying orders to the letter. Waste her time and she'll rip you limb from limb," Ash remarked, his galloping strides digging into the ground and throwing up clods of dry earth. Hot Dog snorted dirt out of his nose and moved closer to avoid this.

Eruptor, who was following behind them all as a slithering puddle of lava, formed a mouth just long enough to say, "It's alright for you to laugh, she likes you. She doesn't try to scare you, nor does she non-so-subtlety suggest she might eat you."

Hot Dog laughed. Spyro winked at Ash, who smiled. Eruptor made a gurgling noise, that may have been a mumbled word.

Hot Dot cocked his head to one side, and asked something that had just occurred to him, "Spyro, why aren't you flying? You'd reach Hot Head much quicker."

Spyro had heard this before, and replied, "Unfortunately, the ash in the air weighs down my wings. I'd have to jump off this island to take flight. Good thing I like to stretch my legs," he grinned at the hound, who nodded back. Spyro looked back ahead, and saw something moving in the distance, just before where the ground sloped down and the tunnels began.

"Hot Head!" Spyro yelled, staring at the hulking shape on the horizon.

The shape moved, and turned to face Spyro. "Yes, Spyro?" The purple dragon sighed in relief, and slowed to a stop. It was Hot Head.

"I need you to connect these islands to the Citadel. It's an emergency, I'll explain it to you on the way," Spyro asked, sitting down heavily. Eruptor flowed back into his normal shape, and Ash and Hot Dog stayed standing, neither looking very exhausted.

Hot Head nodded. He didn't question. All the Skylanders knew that the job came first. So long as they knew what they were doing, they didn't need to know anything else. Or at least not until the emergency was over.

Hot Head grabbed at one of the large, heavy chains connecting the volcano island to a smaller connecter island. He heaved, and the small island shot forwards. It stopped at jumping distance before them, and they all clambered on. Hot Head tugged at another chain, this one connected to the Citadel docks, and they shot forwards. They crashed into the main island, and rocked with the impact.

"Woah!" shouted Ash, as he staggered with the island's motion, and nearly fell, his hooves unable to dig into the ground. Hot Dog leaped onto the docks before the island stopper moving, and Eruptor burped nervously.

"There you go. Watch your step, gentlemen," Hot Head announced grandly, as he moved onto the large island.

Spyro darted across to the Citadel island. Ash and Eruptor joined him and Hot Dog, who was already clawing at the ground impatiently.

Then they all took off towards the Citadel proper.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Gadgit, any response?" Roller Brawl asked. The fox shook his russet head, the classic golden bronze aviator goggles pushed up on his brow bouncing slightly. Gadgit smoothed out a wrinkle in his muted orange armour, which felt deceptively cloth-like, save the outer ribs of coppery steel, and shook out his oil stained pants that were held up by a leather belt. He scuffed his worn brown boots on the grass, and pulled at his grey fingerless gloves impatiently, waiting for the small holographic display in front of him to load.

On his left hand glove was a round, black circular button, and he pressed this once the display finished, and the circle glowed red. "No good. There must be some interference," he informed the vampire, who had begun to skate restless circles around him.

Roller Brawl groaned. "Looks like we're stuck here for the time being, unless you've got signal enough for a map," she complained, flopping down onto a rock and propping up her chin with her hands. Gadgit sat down too. "About that map… hmm. It might work… let me see…" he mused, sliding his finger around the button's rim.

A larger holographic screen appeared in front of him, and a keyboard appeared with it. "I love these things," Roller Brawl said, reaching out to touch the screen.

"Will you not?" Gadgit asked testily as Roller Brawl waved her hand through the keyboard several times, while involuntarily pressing keys.

Roller Brawl stopped, rolling her eyes. "Thank you," Gadgit said, and pressed a key. Both keyboard and screen melded together to become a floating compass. Instead of showing where north was, however, the needle appeared to be pointing west.

"Your compass is broken." Roller Brawl pointed out the obvious, getting back to her feet and flipping her pink braid back over her shoulder, "Look, it points west," she said. Gadgit sighed, grabbed the compass and stood.

"It's supposed to, okay? You should know that by now," he said, and shot a look at her.

Roller Brawl yawned widely, clearly not caring, "Come on, let's get moving then," she said, pushing him forwards. "I'm going," Gadgit muttered sourly, and began walking. Roller Brawl began circling him again. "I'm not that slow!" he shouted.

"Yes, you are," came her reply.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tessa groaned. When she opened her eyes her vision swam, and when she sat up, pain lanced through her body.

_Typical_, she thought.

When her eyes had stopped playing tricks on her, she saw she was sitting on a small stone platform. In a wide, gaping chasm, full of more platforms, only most of them were wooden and rickety looking, with the occasional cracked stone platform dotted around.

_Typical. Freaking typical. _

Tessa wondered occasionally if her life was amusing to someone else out there, because she always seemed to be the butt of a hidden joke. Why else on Skylands would she be sitting in a giant pit with dodgy platforms everywhere? And of course she would be expected to get out.

Why couldn't she have been portaled into hordes of enemies or something instead? She could fight with the best of the Skylanders, even though she technically wasn't one. She didn't even bother to question why she had woken up in this place. Something must have gone wrong, again.

Tessa pushed herself up shakily, and staggered as she straightened. Her head… Darkness take her, it felt like the _worst _hangover she'd ever had. And she'd had a lot of hangovers in her time with the military, and then the Skylanders. This felt like that time she'd been persuaded to drink Red Death by her old squad mates-

A rushing noise sounded, and Tessa cried out as she was blown off the platform, her hand flying out and just catching the edge. A ferocious wind blew over her head as she desperately hung on.

And then the wind whipped her right off the platform, tearing her hands free from where she clung so tightly.

Down, down she fell. The last thing she saw was the ground rushing up towards her before she blacked out again.

Someone sighed.

And caught Tessa as she fell, bending the wind around her falling form to slow her drop.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Ink watched as the fox-like feline woman stirred slightly. Okay, so maybe she'd broken the rules a little, but she had a feeling this woman was meant to survive. And she'd just send her on her way again, no harm done. She wouldn't even remember she'd met Ink. A simple spell could easily take care of that.

Tasting rebellion on her tongue, she smiled and studied the woman, determined to remember her face forever, the one thing she had managed to change.

The woman had beautiful, fiery orange hair up in a high ponytail, and her large tail was the same colour as her hair. She had light brown fur, speckled with a few, selective dusky brown spots. Her ears were also that same shade of brown, and what Ink could see of her chest… err, underbelly was a dirty, brownish beige, while her muzzle was a paler beige that faded to the woman's regular colouring.

The woman was wearing a dark emerald tee, and khaki pants with a lot of pockets. She also had a very nice army styled jacket made of leaves.

Ink stifled a small laugh, because making a jacket out of leaves was certainly taking camouflage to the next level. She supposed it was a gift, probably a leaving present as she could see the woman was a soldier.

She was probably from the Skylanders division as well, if her cloaked crystal amulet was anything to go by. The crystal was fascinating, and Ink could see why they were such a closely guarded military secret. They were a both a communication device, a health monitor and a portal anchor… the last one was especially impressive. But what a large Portal Magic signature that the crystal could generate... wait, this woman's crystal wasn't generating the portal magic.

She _was_ the Portal Anchor. Darkness take her, why hadn't she realised? No wonder she'd felt she was important.

Ink opened her eyes to the Sight, and tried to find out more about the woman. Maybe because she was hasty, maybe because she was cursing herself for being so incautious in her rebellion, she forgot to put up her mental barricades first.

Ink couldn't contain the scream that burst from her lips as her head was flooded with millions of future paths, future scenes, flashing sporadically. And as the visions flashed through her eyes, she was reeling, clutching her head as the overloading images caused great pain tore her apart.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tessa was up and crouching by the woman's side before she even knew what was going on.

She didn't feel the stiffness that lashed across both her sides as she shouted questions, asking if she was all right, even though she knew she wasn't. It was something they'd drummed into her at the academy, and as soon as she realised this, Tessa quickly changed tactics, asking what was wrong. All the woman did was whimper and screw up her eyes more as she convulsed.

Tessa could do nothing but watch as the woman writhed in pain. She hated this hopeless feeling, that she could do nothing to help. For the hundredth time she wished she had the powers that came with her element, the healing abilities of Life she could never use.

And then she watched as the woman slipped fitfully into unconsciousness.

So Tessa picked her up, barely thinking about anything except helping this person who had clearly saved her life. And Tessa was determined to return the favour.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Faith

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tessa huffed, and set down the woman. She was _heavy_. Tessa laid her delicately on a rock, then went to sit on a large tree root. As she rubbed circulation back into her arms, she looked at the girl, unaware of the fact she had been the one being scrutinised earlier.

She must have been some special kind of dragoness, one of the kind that walked on two legs, though she didn't look like the kind that Fire Kraken was. The dragoness had smooth skin covering her long body, giving her a sleek look. She had proper hands with five fingers as well, but her feet had the traditional three claws. Tessa decided she was a hybrid, since she had no wings or horns either, just a row of spikes, and a much shorter snout then any kind of dragon Tessa had ever seen.

But she did have scales around her eyes, and along her spine... and Tessa realised that the hybrid had had horns, but they'd been cut off to almost the very bases. Tessa covered her mouth in horror.

Who would cut off someone's horns? And it wasn't a break, it was a clean cut. It was _deliberate_. Tessa shuddered.

The hybrid stirred, and twitched her tail. Tessa noticed that while her tail was black with a white tip, the rest of her skin wasn't, it was a pale silvery grey. Or at least the bits that weren't covered by her practical blue shirt and brown leggings were that colour. Wait, no, the back of her neck along the spine was also black, now that Tessa looked closely.

The hybrid woman had dark stormy blue-grey socks colourings on her hands and feet as well. But the most striking feature of all was the white scar over her left eye, surrounded by the black spike-like markings or tattoos that surrounded both her eyes. The scar and markings somehow attracted all attention straight to them. Tessa wondered what the markings meant.

The woman's eyelids fluttered, and Tessa jumped back in surprise, tripping over her root. After waiting several seconds, Tessa looked up over the root. No, the hybrid woman wasn't awake. Tessa stood up and looked at the thick forest canopy. Not much light came through anyway, but it was getting darker. Break time over.

Tessa sighed, and picked up the woman. She began to walk again.

And in the gloom the hybrid blinked.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Gadgit and Roller walked until they crested a hill and Gadgit flashed a triumphant smirk at Roller Brawl, "See?" he said, pointing to a small bump far off in the distance, "I told you the compass worked. After all these years, you'd think you'd have a little faith in me," the fox finished, glaring at the accused.

Roller Brawl shrugged. "What can I say? That I don't trust complex technology? You remember what happened when that plasma cannon broke," she replied, glancing at him.

Gadgit scowled, "That was… well, different. I was young then, and nothing else of mine has ever done anything like that since," he muttered, huffing. Roller Brawl laughed, then pushed him forward.

Gadgit stumbled all the way down the hill, and glared up at the vampire. "I resent that," he called up to her. She laughed and slid down next to him.

"You say that every time. Somehow I still don't believe you," she teased, poking him. Gadgit glared, then smiled.

"I suppose it's bearable," he said, shrugging. The vampire laughed again, and skated forwards, towards the smudge on the horizon.

Gadgit walked sedately after her.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Caem glanced at the dog's back as he lead the way through the port. The streets here were endlessly fascinating.

Everywhere there were traders, and Caem saw precious materials just sitting in stalls everywhere. Not to mention there was different kinds of food stalls as well, though she didn't care much for the smells. The different scents collided with each other and mixed up all together, creating an awful stench that rivalled Stink Bomb's worst.

Other than that, Caem couldn't help but marvel. And the architecture… she'd never seen so much white stone anywhere, not even when she'd been to the Elf Kingdoms. The port was incredibly rich, it seemed. Caem wasn't one to be impressed, but this was something. Not to mention everything seemed to be imbedded with gold and pearls, for great decorative purposes, and very few appeared to have been pulled out.

Pink pearls as well, no less. Caem was partial to pink pearls, even though she scorned other jewellery. Scratch incredibly rich, this port was swimming in gold.

Caem sighed, and hurried to catch up with the dog. If it wasn't for her duty as Portal Master, she'd stay here for some time. But that was wishful thinking, and she had to get back to the Citadel. She needed to alert them, and tell them what had happened.

The dog glanced at her, and seeing her face, tried a smile, "What do you think of that statue, Miss? It's of Ankitt Seaclaw. Her exploits were always my favourites to listen to when I was a pup," he said, smiling. Caem looked at the statue in the middle of the plaza, and stopped in her tracks.

Ankitt Seaclaw pointedly ignored everyone in the square, as she carefully examined her large, golden claws. Her spiky obsidian fur glittered in the light, and her turquoise eyes shifted shades every second Caem watched them. Her pirate coat was made of pink gold, and her pants were tied with an amethyst sash, blowing in a still wind. She was brilliant. And on her neck, on a thin silver choker, gleamed a large, rosy pearl. She stood in a fountain pool, and water gushed in arcs above her head.

Caem loved it.

"You like her, huh? I must admit, I would love to have a coat like Ankitt's," the dog turned to Caem. She nodded, still staring.

"I'd love a choker like that," she confided. He nodded enthusiastically. "You like pink pearls, don't you?" he said, and she whipped her head around to look at him.

"Yes. Am I that obvious?" Caem looked at him, curious to see if he had noticed how much she'd been staring. He nodded with a grin, and glanced over her shoulder.

He turned abruptly and walked away. She hurried after him, worried, but still looking over her shoulder to see one last glimpse of the statue of Ankitt Seaclaw.

Caem just failed to miss the shady figure watching her depart.

"Where exactly are we going?" Caem finally asked, as they walked past yet another plaza. This one didn't have quite as impressive a statue as Ankitt Seaclaw, but it was still expertly made.

"We're almost there," the dog replied, turning down an alley way. "Here we are," he finished. Caem stared as he walked up to the building at the end of the alley, and gestured at it.

It was a run down hotel, a small but grand old thing that had seen better years. The white marble out the front was chipped and cracked in all sorts of places, but it was magnificent and opulent even so.

The dog went up to the door, and opened it. He looked back at her when she didn't walk in.

"What's your name?" She asked him suddenly. He laughed. Caem wrinkled her brow, and frowned at the dog.

"Oh, I'd completely forgotten you didn't know my name. I'm surprised you didn't ask before. My name is Kohl," he replied, smiling.

Now Caem lifted an eyebrow, and the frown lessened just a bit. "You do realise, I hope, that your name is the word for a charcoal based eyeliner?" she said slowly, incredulous. He nodded, and shrugged helplessly.

"My sire was an odd woman, even for a pirate. She thought it fitted in with this, though," He explained, pointing to a white patch over his right eye that Caem hadn't noticed. She nodded in understanding.

"Anyway, shall we go in? I have some clothes that might fit you and make you less inconspicuous, not that those you are wearing right now are too bad, I just have clothes that will fit the image of port dweller better," Kohl asked, before stumbling over his words.

Caem nodded, smiling at his extreme politeness and went in with him.

The shady figure watching them nodded also, and ran off.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Skylanders! Skylanders have come to help us!" Gadgit stared at the village in confusion as the watchman shrieked. Roller Brawl smiled wickedly.

"Do you think there's going to be jam session?" She asked, grinning and sliding out her claws.

Gadgit nodded, and tapped his glove button twice. Onto his back shimmered two curved blades, both silver except for their grips and outer edges, which were pitch black but covered with what appeared to be tiny lines that may have been circuitry.

"Skylanders, thank goodness you're here," the watchman told them as they approached the gates. The watchman was a bird raptor, and he gripped a bow in his taloned hands. He was wearing some very impressive Tech armour, which Gadgit itched to examine closely.

Unfortunately, he probably wouldn't be able to, since there was going to be a 'jam session,' as Roller Brawl put it, and he doubted the watchman was going to make it out alive. The watchman looked like he'd never been in a fight before, and was made of nervous jitters.

"Mind letting us in? Might make it easier to help you…" Roller Brawl asked, trailing off. The watchman started, surprised and embarrassed, and hurried to let them in.

The gates swung open smoothly, and Gadgit frowned. Those gates would be easy to force open. Roller Brawl noticed too, and after a second, nodded with a shrug. Gadgit sighed, wondering when people would get it, and they both walked through the gates and into the village.

The village was small, and more rustic than the high tech walls, gates and armour had led Gadgit to believe. "I wonder why exactly they live in the middle of this plain," he muttered to Roller Brawl, who was eyeing the scurrying as the villagers prepared for battle, presumably.

"Do you remember the crystal spike jutting from the ground that we spotted earlier? That big ugly purple one? That was Petrified Darkness, a great big lump of it. They live here because they can't live over there. And they want to live over there because of the forest right next to that, and the dormant volcano in the centre of that forest," Roller Brawl explained out of the side of her mouth.

Gadgit smiled to himself. Roller Brawl had one of the best pair of eyes out of all the Skylanders, and of course she would have noticed how well the plants grew, and linked it up with the dormant volcano, and everything else. He had to admit he hadn't thought the plains would have volcanic rich soil too, but they did, as he could see now. There would be no other reason as to why the grass grew so well here, since the conditions didn't seem overly wet.

"Skylanders," a guard beckoned to them. They approached, and Gadgit noticed that he was a tiger, not a raptor like the watchman. Now that he really looked at the villagers, he could see tigers and raptors. Hmm… fascinating, that this village was such a mix of two cultures. Again, something that Roller Brawl had noticed, if her smirk at his surprise was any indication.

The guard spoke to them once they were close enough. "Skylanders, there is a horde approaching from beyond the forest. You would have passed a large crystal?" he stopped and looked at them for confirmation.

They nodded, and he continued, "Darkness surrounds that place, and infects everything there. Normally, we aren't bothered by this, but something happened just now, and the one scout we have over there told us the horde has been riled up. It began to do all sorts of odd things, milling about in a group rather than the in-fighting that normally occurs, and during this chaos a large group of infected creatures broke off from the main pack and began to head this way. We had hoped they would pass us by or tear themselves apart, but they're traveling straight towards us. Please, help us fight them," the guard ended, begging.

Roller Brawl smiled kindly at him. "Of course we'll help. We're Skylanders, it's what we do."

The guard smiled weakly back, and hurried off, telling any villager he came across that Skylanders were going to help in the battle.

"Rule one of guard duty, never leave your post. Hmm… he broke that one," Roller Brawl pointed out. Gadgit nodded, though he was already busy typing code into his keyboard and screen which he'd just pulled out.

Roller Brawl glanced over, then began to assess the weapons the villagers possessed. Most of them owned close combat weapons, with more than enough support archers to back them up from the walls. However, all the spears and blades she saw were busily being sharpened and all the bows were being oiled and strung.

They looked like their ancestors had seen battle before in the distant past, but this generation had never actually fought. Roller Brawl could tell it was going to be a bloodbath. Even the fancy armour and tech they were kitted out in wouldn't be enough.

Gadgit grinned up suddenly at her. "How many turrets do you think we'll need, Roller Brawl?" He asked. Roller Brawl stared at him, amazed. _No turrets,_ Roller Brawl thought privately. _Not after that plasma cannon._

"How am I supposed to know that?" Roller Brawl asked, stalling for time. She crossed her arms for extra effect.

"They're here! We are under attack!" The watchman shouted from his post.

"Too late, anyway," Roller Brawl added, breathing a guilty sigh of relief. Too_ soon_, as it turned out, because a turret materialised suddenly in front of her.

* * *

**Sorry, there was a mistake and I posted part of the story, the first part where Roller Brawl and Gadgit are trying to get a response out of the Citadel, twice. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Worse and Worse

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Mesmer, Spy, have you been bickering like this the whole time?" Ash called, sauntering into the main portaling hall.

Spy Rise and Mesmerelda jolted up, and glared at the stallion, instead of glaring at each other.

"Oh, yes, nice idea with the fences, by the way." Ash said, nodding to the large circular wire fences around the room. He walked up to the biggest one, which was in the centre of the room. It represented where the main Portal of Power had once stood. Fanned out in a circle around the Portal should have been eight smaller portals, but like the main portal all that was left to show where they had been were the tripwire fences.

Ash stared at the bare floor where the main portal had been. "Don't waste your breath." Mesmerelda told him. "I already checked over the entire area with magic, and I found nothing. Absolutely nothing. Magic had nothing to do with the Portals disappearing. All I know was that there was a spike of _something_, and that's no help at all." She scowled, displeased.

Spy Rise smirked at her, and tapped his wrist computer. "Well," he began, "I did manage to find something. I found that all the Portals were taken at the same time, and by the same method. I also found-" Mesmerelda cut him off.

"He also found nothing. Isn't that right, Spy-derr?" she purred snarkily, smirking back at him. Spy Rise reddened slightly, though it was hard to tell with his coppery skin, and opened his mouth to retort, possibly to defend himself or add actual information. But this time it was Ash who cut him off.

"We are the three most feared Spy Masters in the entirety of Skylands, we control vast networks, and whenever there is a crisis, like _now, _all you two can do is argue. Stop behaving like little children." Ash growled, clearly at the end of his tether.

Mesmerelda stopped smirking, and sighed. "Ash. You've found something bad. What is it?" The spider asked him, deftly ducking the accusation. The stallion sighed too.

"They're gone. These portals that were here? They no longer exist. In the whole of Skylands, there is not a single portal. This isn't a theft attempt, there isn't a single portal left, not one. And I don't know why," Ash informed them. He nodded sadly at their shocked faces.

"Spyro is not going to like this. We better find if the Anchors and Portal Masters still exist, and where they are, and quickly," Mesmerelda shuddered to think of the job ahead. Spy Rise nodded, and sent a message to Spyro to inform him of this turn of events, as he was gathering all the Skylanders still at the Citadel for an emergency meeting. With that done, the three of them raced to the operations room.

When they got there, it was already in a flurry of activity. Kaos had clearly seen them coming because he had stopped what he was doing and had looked up at them. Ash hurried over to him, while Mesmerelda and Spy Rise went to their separate terminals, ready to start searching to see if their sentinels had picked up any calls from Skylanders.

"Kaos? You're still here? Did you feel this?" Ash questioned him, wondering why the seer was still here even though everything else connected to the portals had disappeared.

Kaos scowled, "I felt extreme pain, if you must know. Caem and the others probably went through the same thing and blacked out. The only reason I'm still here is because I haven't used my Portal Magic in years. I've barely got any of that magic left tied on myself, thanks to being locked out of it for so long, that must have affected it," his eyes flashed red, and the sunken blue markings on his head turned just a little bit darker, reflecting his mood.

Ash sighed. Kaos had been corrupted as a child and groomed by his mother to terrorise Skylands in her stead. He had been very, very powerful, capable of portaling whole islands using his magic. When he had been defeated and purged of his corruption, several nations had demanded he lose access to his portal magic, lest he or someone else use his abilities for Dark purposes again. Kaos was still angry about this. He'd expertly made his case about Cynder and the other formerly Dark Skylanders granted amnesty for past deeds, and pointed out that none of them had lost their powers as a result of their crimes. Unfortunately, these nations who wanted Kaos' power gone had threatened to cut funding from the Skylanders if they refused to bind the former Portal Master. As the Skylanders relied on donations from these powerful countries, they'd had no choice but to comply.

"Thank you, Kaos. Can you find any of the others?" Ash asked, trying to swerve the conversation back to the crisis at hand.

Kaos shook his head, "No, I haven't found them yet. It's slow going, I'm going to have to search the entirety of Skylands at this rate, I can't even sense their magical signatures," he replied, a tinge of worry in his voice. Despite his often uncaring personality, he was quite close to Caem, having taught her about the Skylanders after Eon had died. He wanted the Portal Master found as soon as possible, as they all did.

Ash thanked him politely and went to his booth. He had a two dozen or more messages from various places asking him why their Portal Masters, Anchors and Portals had gone missing. Ash rubbed his temple, realising that this wasn't just a Skylander sized problem anymore, and set to work answering them, trying to explain they were working on it, and trying to keep everyone from panicking.

It was close to sundown when he finished. He looked up, and slid out of his booth. Quickstorm bounced up to him, commanding his attention. The hare tried smoothing down his fur, a habit that never worked. Quickstorm's fur looked like he had just stuck his paw in a socket, which was half true. He'd actually been hit by magically generated lightning, which had turned him into a half elemental being as a result. The only power the lightning had bestowed upon him was the ability to carry several trains of thought as once, or several conversations, and as such he'd sought out the Skylanders to make use of this strange and unique talent. He was in charge of communications as a result, though he doubled as an intel operative, like many other Skylander personnel.

"Ash. We've located Cali and received a message from Flynn. Cali seems to be unhurt, and was found by Brock and Pipsqueak near the battle arenas, according to Spy Rise's drone, and Flynn ended up in Dragon's Peak and has commandeered a fast ship to get back over here. Also, Tempest is back. She's flown all the way from Cat's Eye Mountain. Scratch is still there though, did you get her message? She's doing her best to act as ambassador while Tempest is here," the hare issued this news in rapid fire speech, until Ash held up a hoof to silence him.

"Okay, so that's two Anchors found. Make sure the other searchers know, okay? And that means no sign of Tessa or Caem? And why did Tempest come? She should have sent Scratch back, she's ambassador, she should have stayed," Ash thought out loud, feeling his stress levels rising, and knew he'd have no time to relax in the hot spring any time soon.

"Scratch's damaged wing, remember? She can't fly that long a distance. Tempest apologises, she's resting right now with Skylar, she wants you to go see her as soon as possible," the hare explained, and finished delivering his information.

Ash wondered when the nightmare would end, and galloped off to the infirmary.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tempest slowly sipped the strength potion Skylar had whipped up for her, and stretched her aching wings. Cat's Eye Mountain wasn't the furthest from the Isles of Light, but boy, an all night flight was still incredibly taxing. She should have been able to call a portal, but for some reason they'd all mysteriously disappeared.

She wished Ash would hurry, she needed to get back as quickly as possible and Skylar wouldn't let her leave to go to the stallion. She was busy weaving her famous mist bandages, and Tempest knew from her childhood that disturbing the healer while she did so was an invitation to trouble, and Skylar was very, very fierce.

Thinking about her childhood sent a pang through her chest. She tried not to think too much on it, because that lead to thoughts about her mother… Sonic Boom. When her mother had died, trying to save a fatally wounded Eon and an entire village from a drow armada, she'd been the only one of the Skylanders to survive, thrust into a tree hollow by her mother's mission partner, the dragoness Aqua. These two had faced down the drow, and saved the village, at the cost of their lives, Eon's, and her three other siblings.

Tempest swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

When her mother had died, the curse placed upon Tempest had broken. Skylar and Camo had been her guardians, as her father had never been known, and the dragon and dove had absolutely refused to allow her to be fostered out. It wasn't that great of a burden to Skylar, being a healer, but Camo had spent several years off active duty as a result, and his partner Sunburn had shared in her upbringing when he'd seen how worn out Camo became. And when she'd finally grown to maturity, Spyro had offered her a place as a Skylander.

She'd refused. How could she? Tempest never wanted to bare her claws and fight again, not after the memories she'd retained of battling alongside her mother as a chick. She'd still wanted to do something to help the Skylander's cause, and eventually, when the Skylander's ambassador for Cat's Eye Mountain and the surrounding holds, such as the Mabu Kingdom, had begun to want to retire, she'd volunteered. And now, many years after her mentor had died, she was the Skylander's voice in those areas, working to keep the peace in a different way than her mother.

Ash burst through the door, and Skylar raised her head at the noise. Tempest was shaken from her memories at the terrified expression the stallion wore as he was pinned by the glaring black eyes of her guardian.

"Keep quiet, Ash, or you'll ruin my concentration _and_ the bandages. And believe me, you don't want that." Skylar warned, her ear tufts quivering. Ash stuttered a reply, fazed in spite of himself. Skylar nodded once, and went back to her weaving.

Ash hurried over to Tempest, and smiled when he reached her. "My, how beautiful you've grown," he smiled, and Tempest nosed her chest feathers, embarrassed. The stallion tipped her head up with a hoof. "You look so much like your mother," he sighed, and nudged her potion bowl over. Tempest looked at her reflection in the clear blue fluid. She didn't think she looked like her mother. Her green eyes were a softer colour than her mother's jade, the blue-black of her fur and feathers was much lighter, and her wings, ears and tufted tail were tipped with a darker steel blue in contrast. She didn't really look like Sonic Boom, did she?

Ash nodded, as if reading her thoughts. Then his tender expression hardened, "Why are you here? Ambassadors shouldn't be the ones running the messages," he fixed her with a disappointed look.

Tempest sighed. "The Air Element created a tornado that ripped through the Mabu Kingdom, but that wasn't the only place. Cat's Eye Mountain suffered greatly. I was sent back to bring this to your attention, as the communications towers have been destroyed, and the sentinels have disappeared, presumably taken in by the tornado as well. We've no way to contact anyone, and we need aid desperately, refugees are flooding out and thousands are dead," she delivered her bad news, and Ash closed his eyes, taking it all in. They'd been so busy with the portals disappearing that he'd not even noticed Cat's Eye Mountain dropping communications.

"Thank you, Tempest. I'm afraid we'll be of no help, we're dealing with disasters of our own. Come with me and talk to Spyro, we need to inform him of what's happened before we do anything else."

Tempest nodded, curious and worried. What was so bad that the Skylanders couldn't offer aid?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Gadgit swung his blades, and slashed the head off yet another zombie Sugar Bat. He dodged as a corrupted boar charged him, nicking a gash in his leg. He wondered why he always ended up in the thick of the fighting, where every enemy out numbered those on his side, and support shots always seemed to miss.

Gadgit pulled a grenade off his belt, clicked the top down, and threw it into a thick patch of what appeared to be more shambling zombies with black crystals protruding out of their spines. He protected his eyes as blood, gore and tiny crystal shards sprayed over him, and then somersaulted out of the way of a fireball, which barely missed singeing the fox's tail, because he hadn't seen it coming. Roller Brawl appeared out of the roiling mass of bodies, and sent two Skateblades into the dragon who had fired on Gadgit. The dragon fell neatly, his body now in three pieces.

Gadgit ran his fingers over his wrist keyboard, a miniature version of his bigger one, typed quickly, and three blasts shot out of the air, and into a hulking lizard that had started mauling at a fallen villager. Another key combination, and a turret appeared over the villager, and began rapidly firing laser rounds into any target its Dark detecting sensors could find. Gadgit breathed a sigh of relief. His teleporting system still worked to its normal capacity even though there appeared to be very little Portal magic active. He was glad he'd installed the matter shifting technology as a back up.

Roller Brawl dashed over as a spider loomed up in front of Gadgit, and she head butted the beast out of his way. Gadgit threw one of his blades into its stomach, and stabbed with the other as spider attacked from behind. _Sometimes_, Gadgit thought, there appeared to be a never ending swarm of enemies. And why was there always spiders?

"Light, save us!" screamed a voice. Roller Brawl and Gadgit looked in that direction as a new wave of enemies poured over the hill. Never ending swarms indeed.

They swore, and kept fighting.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"What was that?" Tessa asked out loud, alarmed, as she heard an explosion. She set down the hybrid, and scrambled up a tree. She saw the smoke go up over massive battle on the plain, and her keen eyes spotted a flash of a metal blade thrown up high in the mass of bodies. She recognised the blade. It looked like... Gadgit's. Gadgit was down there! And so was Roller Brawl, and they were fighting off a mass of Dark enemies, and they had very little backup. Tessa checked her belt. Her dagger was there, which was good.

She hauled the hybrid up into the tree, and ran off towards the battle.

After a while, Ink sat up, and looked in the direction of the running woman.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Ink almost couldn't believe it. The woman had just left her. Well, there must be a battle going on, then. The only thing that set off a Skylander's instincts more than an injured civilian was a fight.

She shouldn't complain. Now was the perfect time to disappear.

Ink was thankful the woman hadn't just left her, she truly was. She just wasn't thankful enough to miss the opportunity to leave while she had the chance. She'd learned her lesson about tampering with fate, and now she could get going.

Ink jumped down out of the tree, and dusted herself down. Then she headed off, in a completely different direction to that the woman had taken.

She'd gone maybe three steps before she turned around, cursing herself, and followed the tracks.

Ink ran through the tall grasses at the edge of the forest as it bordered on the plain, trying to figure out a plan of attack. It would be unwise to use her _main _brand of magic here, or the turrets she had spotted would be on her in an instant. A seer's ability to utilise all the elements came in handy here. But which one?

As Ink got closer, she saw that many of the corrupted creatures were aligned now with the Undead element. Magic, then. Good for long range, and keeping herself hidden. And while Fire was useful against zombies, burning things on a grassland wasn't a good idea, and anyway, the downside to be able to use all the elements meant she couldn't raise more than a spark of Fire.

Ink was close enough now to hear the battle, and she slowed down just enough to keep the swaying of the stalks down to what might pass off as wind movement. Maybe she was a tad bit over cautious, but she was still alive because of it, and that was what counted.

There was a slight mound over there. She could use that as a small vantage point, the grass was only a little bit taller than her but being able to lift her head just a bit higher would help a lot with what she had in mind.

Up the mound she crept, readying an orb of magic in her hand. She peeked out of cover, and spotted a good target almost immediately.

A corrupted stalker cat was trying to be sneaky like her, creeping up on a tiger warrior who was busy fighting two zombies of some race bipedal, which Ink would like to have known for the sake of curiosity, but rot had degraded them too far for identification. She was aware that she was over thinking things, but that was the only way she could keep calm.

Her thoughts now back on the task at hand, Ink locked on to her target, and fired, the pulse traveling though the tops of the grass in front of her. The small but deadly magic blast sailed down, and went clean through the big cat's side. Another blast to the head, which promptly exploded with black and grey matter, as unrealistic as that was, and Ink had downed it. And there was no chance of it turning into a zombie cat, either. Some of these creatures tended to do that, and it was annoying having to kill something twice.

Ink discreetly fired another blast, and ripped a hole in the vitals of one of the zombies the tiger was still fighting. Somehow the warrior missed it completely as he chopped off a grabbing arm, but soon he felled his foe. He turned to fight the other zombie, and even from far away Ink could see his surprise and delight at the unexpected help, and she saw him murmur thanks. As the tiger decapitated the zombie, Ink felt a small amount of pride.

Normally these people cursed her, not thanked her. It was nice to be appreciated sometimes.

Ink decided that her magic bolts were too messy and easily noticeable, so she formed up several thin, long darts of magic. She wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer, so she targeted a herd of twisted looking deer loping into the battle, and sent a dart into each of their heads. They passed straight through, dropping the deer easily, and they only left a small hole, which could be a laser wound from one of the turrets if looked at. Again, being cautious never hurt.

Ink caught sight of the woman fighting in a trio with a armoured fox and a... roller skating vampire? They must be other Skylanders. Ink made a note not to fire anything near them, and she quietly picked off several enemies on the outskirts of the battle.

Then the wolves attacked, taking the hybrid completely by surprise.

And she'd been doing so well, too.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Capable

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kohl thought she looked great. Pirate clothes clearly suited Caem, as the Portal Master had introduced herself.

The human's short dark hair had several braids running through it now, each braid interwoven with multi-coloured beads. He'd given her his grey jacket vest, and scrounged up an old white shirt to go with it. Blue pants that fitted perfectly without needing a sash and a scruffy pair of boots finished her look, not to mention the rest of his was happy to give them to Caem, though. They looked much better on her than they did on him.

"Now I have more appropriate clothes, what shall we do next?" Caem asked, folding her old clothes into a neat pile and placing them on a stool.

Kohl, who had been sitting on his table, got up. "Food? It's near lunchtime, so we can grab a bite to eat if you want. And then, of course, we can set about to finding a ship, or, if we're lucky, a balloon or aircraft to take us as close as possible to the Skylander Islands," Kohl looked at Caem for approval.

She nodded. "That's a good plan, I hadn't noticed it was lunch time. I think we shall have to get some food, then," she admitted, placing a hand on her stomach with a smile.

Kohl grinned back. "I hope you like seafood," he replied. Caem's stomach rumbled, startling them both into laughter.

"I'll take that as a yes," Kohl answered his own question happily. He was glad it wasn't his hungry stomach answering instead of the Portal Masters.

His stomach gurgled back, just to prove him wrong. Kohl scowled at it as Caem laughed again.

Okay, she was beginning to trust him. Kohl was glad. He hated being cast as a villain or not to be trusted just because he was a pirate. There were pirates who raided exclusively on Dark forces, so they weren't all mongrels… aside from the obvious fact that most of them _were_ dogs.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

They had been getting along so well, Caem reflected. Kohl had gotten her some filling street food, and they'd just found a captain willing to give them passage on his ship. And then they'd decided to duck into an alley as a short cut.

The pirates that blocked their way were armed to the teeth, in most cases literally. Some were dogs like Kohl, but more than a few were squids or cats, and Caem spotted the Spell Punk who was hiding behind a large brute. Why exactly the Spell Punk was doing this, Caem couldn't tell. It was puzzling. Maybe for the element of surprise, as odd as that seemed? More than likely just for the look of the thing.

"Kohl," the leader addressed Caem's companion. He raised a polite eyebrow in return.

"I'm here to make... enquiries, shall we say. About your friend here. A little birdie told me she was a Portal Master. She is, isn't she, Kohl?" Kohl looked absolutely bewildered. Clearly he had no idea who it was that was talking to him. Caem stifled a laugh, hard especially since the leader had tried to purr after the last word. Ah, it was so hard to be a good villain these days. Everyone tried to copy the flamboyant styles of Kaos and Mesmerelda, and none so far had gotten it right. The reformed criminals themselves shared many laughs over the wannabes, though.

Caem, sighed, and decided to deal with them before it got even more awkward. She knew the Spell Punk was an experienced combat mage, and therefor a slightly bigger threat than the rest, capable of actual damage, the same of which could not be said for the rest of the pirate party who posed as much threat as a joke.

To deal with them, she'd throw out a stun, then take out the Spell Punk, before dealing with the rest of them. No point in wasting time or effort killing them, either. Caem was fairly certain Kohl and herself could then gather anything Kohl needed from the abandoned hotel where he lived, and then head back to the ship they were to take before vengeance or another group attacked them. Easy.

Plan complete, Caem cut off the leader sharply, as she'd started to talk again, "Thank you for wasting our time. Somehow it still manages to amaze me that people like you are even allowed outside. Goodbye." Before they could even begin to process what she had said, Caem flung out her arm and sent them all flying with a blast of wind.

She sprinted forwards, and caught the Spell Punk with a close range arc of electricity. As it fell, and the other pirates recovered, Caem lifted her arms again and spun. Cobblestones tore themselves out of the ground in a hurricane, each one spinning into a pirate's head, dropping them.

Done. Okay, so maybe she had shown off a little, with all those arm gestures. They were completely unnecessary, as was running up to the Spell Punk. Caem liked to show off occasionally, though. She dusted herself down, and turned to Kohl.

"Has anyone ever told you you'd make a great pirate?" he asked her, looking impressed.

Caem tidied up, sending the cobblestones back into their places. "You just did, didn't you? I'm sure I would make a fabulous pirate, once I stopped being a great Portal Master," she told him. Of course, Caem would have loved to have been a pirate. A good one, of course. Though good at what was open to debate, of course.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tessa wondered how many times she would have to look at the woman's unconscious face before she could talk to her. She was at the hybrid's bedside, even though that was actually a hammock, in the makeshift hospital that had been set up to treat the wounded of the battle.

Tessa was glad the woman had woken up after Tessa had left her, though she couldn't believe the woman had done so quite so fast. She'd seemed comatose since Tessa herself had woken up after her fall, and now it was almost nighttime, and she was back to being unconscious.

Wolves had attacked the hybrid, or at least that's what the corpses scattered around had most resembled when they'd looked. Tessa was glad she'd spotted the magical explosion. Granted, she'd had to outrun the entire horde to get to the woman first, but Tessa couldn't let her die. She'd owed her. It seemed pretty even now, though. Still, Tessa wanted to thank her.

The woman twitched, then blinked blearily, opening her eyes. Tessa, shaken out of her thoughts, sat up and stared. The woman recovered fast, that was for sure.

The hybrid focused on her. She blinked, looked, then groaned. Tessa rushed to the side of the hammock. "Are you all right?" she asked, worried.

The woman rolled over, and stared at her. "Yes, because I've only been mauled by wolves," the woman told her, sarcasm dripping from every word. Tessa blinked, a little taken back by the sudden hostility. Somehow she didn't think the hybrid was really like that. Maybe she was faking?

Tessa shrugged it off, and, settling herself on a crate by the bedside, said frankly, "Well, my name's Tessa. Thank you for saving my life." The woman stared at her, again, seeming slightly puzzled. Then she sighed.

"I'm Ink. Thank you for saving my life, as well," she replied, seemingly friendlier now.

Silence fell between them. Tessa had no idea about what to say next. Somehow making polite conversation about the weather didn't seem appropriate, just slightly hysterical, but that was the shock talking.

Luckily, both of them were saved from silence by a healer. She had been going past, checking up on the wounded that were lying in other hammocks, when she'd spotted Ink awake.

"Oh, good, you are up. How do you feel?" the healer asked, clicking her beak and casting a critical eye over the wounded hybrid.

"Alive," Ink said drily, rolling back onto her back and sitting up. The healer looked at her, and frowned, the quills on the top of her head raising in concern. "Don't strain yourself. You were bleeding to death from multiple wounds when you were brought here. We've bandaged you up as best we could, but we couldn't get your bracers or collar off, though we did manage to slip some bandages underneath them. That collar saved your life, by the way. More than one wolf tried to crush your windpipe, so your neck will hurt the longest," the healer informed her. Tessa looked at the mass of bandages on Ink that she hadn't noticed before, as she'd concentrated solely on Ink's face.

The bandages were all around the hybrid's neck, framing her collar, which looked just as clean as it had before, without a single bloodstain. The bandages were also on her shoulders, and they went all the way down one arm. Ink wore a new shirt now, which meant there was definitely going to be wounds on Ink's torso, serious ones that must have torn Ink's old shirt to shreds. When the hybrid moved her left hand, Tessa saw her wrist was also covered in white, and again Ink's bracer looked untouched. Tessa wondered if they were enchanted. Enchanted items never stained, and blood spatters rolled right off.

The healer had departed at some time while Tessa had been studying at Ink, and now they were visited by Roller Brawl. The vampire took one look at Tessa and asked, "Why aren't _you_ in a hammock resting?" She shook her head, "Your arm looks awful."

Tessa raised an eyebrow, even though her arm was pretty badly cut up, and pointed, in answer, at Roller Brawl's legs. Those were in a worse state than her arm, there were masses of grey bandages wrapped around them. The bandages were a special kind that most Skylanders always carried around with them, special inventions by Skylar that healed as well as absorbed blood, and they allowed pain and stiffness free movement of the area they were applied over, in case a Skylander needed to keep fighting after the bandages had been applied. The Anchor wished she had some. Her impromptu portaling hadn't given her any time to pack.

Roller Brawl laughed at Tessa's response. "Okay, okay," she said, raising her hands in a peace gesture, "I have to say, my legs are nasty. I should probably stop blocking attacks with them," the vampire admitted, smiling.

Tessa grinned back at her, grateful of the fact that she'd found another Skylander so soon after her mystery portaling. Roller Brawl didn't seem to fell the same way, because she turned abruptly to Ink, suddenly all business. "Tessa worked awfully hard to save you from that horde. How do you know her, and why would she do that?" Roller Brawl asked, the change in her expression jarring as she watched Ink like a hawk, pink eyes narrowed.

The hybrid didn't seem surprised to be asked these questions, she looked as if she had expected them. She shrugged, and said simply, "I saved her when she fell. She was portaled into a chasm that in the past had been used to initiate warriors into an old tribe. I was studying the culture when she came falling out of the sky."

Roller Brawl looked like she had more questions, and she had opened her mouth to ask them when Gadgit burst into the tent and hurried over to them. He looked at all the wounded around them, sighed, and turned to Roller Brawl. "I've managed to gain contact with Sprocket," he informed the expectant vampire, who had raised a brow at his unexpected entrance.

"Good, so far. What's the bad news?" Roller Brawl asked, sensing something else that the fox wasn't telling her.

"Sprocket is the closest Skylander to us, along with Hex. They're the only ones for many Skylands. They've both lost contact with everyone else as well, so they're heading over here. We'll try to see if we can build a long range communication device to contact the Citadel, and if we can't do that, we'll try to reach one of Spy Rise's drones. It might not work. Something's happening right now, and it's bad enough to screw over communication lines," Gadgit finished, shaken enough to use a colloquial term like 'screw'. Roller Brawl nodded, processing the information.

Tessa hadn't known that they'd lost all contact with the Citadel. "Hang on," she said. "Are the Comms down?" Tessa was perplexed. The Commcrystals ran on Portal Magic, simultaneously connecting every single Skylander, Portal Master and Anchor, not to mention anyone else involved with the Skylanders, like the intel and message staff. They'd never gone down, _ever._ What on Skylands had happened?

Gadgit nodded sadly, feeling for the Anchor who was feeling what they had all felt, "We lost contact around mid morning. The Comms haven't come back on since. We thought it was interference but it looks to be worse than that." Tessa's eyes went wide, and she shook her head in disbelief.

Roller Brawl thought of something. "Gadgit, when will Sprocket and Hex get here?" she asked. The fox shrugged.

"Tomorrow, probably. Depending on if Sprocket has her tank going all night or not." The fox replied.

Roller Brawl nodded. "Well, then, let's get some sleep. I'm beat," the vampire announced, leaving the room. Gadgit followed her out. Tessa thought this was a good idea as well. Battle was draining. She turned to say goodnight to Ink. The hybrid was still sitting up, and was watching her carefully.

"Goodnight." Ink said, beating her to it.

"Goodnight, and dream well," Tessa replied back, using the traditional saying.

To Tessa's surprise, Ink laughed bitterly. "I don't have a choice in that matter," the hybrid replied.

Tessa left, wondering about that. Whatever had Ink meant?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Skylanders! Can you all hear me?" Spyro called, from his perch on the raised platform in the middle of the amphitheater.

A wave of affirmatives greeted him. Spyro started, preparing to deliver the grave news Ash had informed him of."All of you must hear this," he began, "because today, all the Portals here disappeared. As did all of our Portal Masters, and our Portal Anchors."

A thump echoed as several Skylanders sat down, in shock, or dropped their weapons. In Stump Smash's case he dropped his hammers, breaking the stone step he sat on. Only the Skylanders who had already heard the news were unshaken. However, as Spyro started talking again, they would not be.

"Right now, in the whole of Skylands, Portals do not exist. They have vanished into thin air. We do know that the Portal Masters and Anchors are still in Skylands, however where they are is impossible to know. Some have been located, but not all. We do not even know if those still missing are even alive. And now we know that this has affected all departments, all other militaries and the guardians around the Core of Light. This is not theft, this is not a plot by the Darkness to leave us weak. The Portals are gone and no one knows anything about it."

Silence greeted this rapid turn of events as everyone tried to process what this meant for the future of Skylands. Then Cynder broke the tense atmosphere. "Something big _is_ happening; so what are we going to do?" The dragoness called out, voicing the question that everyone else wanted to ask but were too stunned by the news to do so.

Tree Rex answered her, thumping a fist into the ground, the shockwave rippling the ground slightly. "We'll do what the Skylanders have done since I joined," he said," and that means we'll fix it." A cheer greeted his words, the Skylanders rallying against the bad news.

Somehow, privately Spyro didn't think this was going to be easy. This somehow didn't seem easily fixable, not without a hidden price. But Spyro was damned if he was going to let things stay the way they were. They needed those portals, because without them, they were unable to have the rapid response they were famous for, so they would fix this. Light only knew what would happen if they failed.

"While was still blood my veins, we will fix this!" The dragon roared back to Tree Rex, raising his head and unfurling his wings, trying to portray confidence, even if he didn't feel it.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Ink shook the vision of Spyro from her mind, and thought to herself that that was a very appropriate choice of words. And at sunset, while the sky was turning to a bloody red. That was an omen too, it was practically shouting out.

This was an omen for her, too.

"Not while there's blood in my veins either, boy, and I'm much better at keeping it in than you are," she muttered to herself.

She was involved, whether she wanted to be or not. Oh, she didn't have any dreams of playing the hero, but she didn't want the Skylanders to continue down this doomed path either. The whole of Skylands would suffer, no doubt about that, and who was she to withhold vital information that could save them? The Skylanders needed to know that the portals disappearing was the first in a deadly chain of events that could lead to something so terribly bad her dreams had been plagued with it.

After that, she'd definitely go back home. Life was getting too exciting, she couldn't remember why she'd wanted to go traveling in the first place. Her tribe had been right, home was the safest place to be. Making up her mind, Ink nodded, settling the matter, and shut her eyes.

* * *

**So answers are coming, slowly but surely. I know the past few chapters were jarring, but bear with it as the characters are just starting to get answers themselves.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Arrest

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"I don't see how hard it is to build a tank with more head space," Hex said resentfully, shifting around on the small camp bed. Her short, tangled hair was free from her cowl, which had been removed because it couldn't fit in the cramped interior, and this was the centre of her frustrations.

Sprocket spun around in her chair, leaving the tank on autopilot as she replied. "You ask me this every time. And I will remind you that at least there's a bed in here now," the mechanic said wearily. Hex snorted but didn't comment.

Sprocket turned back to the control panel of the tank, and studied the map readings. "We'll be there soon," Sprocket decided. She didn't need to turn around to know that Hex had just done a sarcastic silent cheer. Sprocket had been the irritable sorceress' partner for long enough to have experienced many tank rides. The nights were now more peaceful because the bed meant that Hex could fall asleep, but during the day Hex behaved the same way Sprocket imagined a big predatory animal behaved when locked in a cage for a long period of time.

Sprocket sighed, and went back to piloting her tank.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tessa woke up to find Gadgit hard at work on some contraption, and Roller Brawl snoring. Sunlight filtered through the entrance of their borrowed tent, and Tessa couldn't help but laugh at the pair. This was so typical of them.

Gadgit turned around when he heard her, "Good morning," he greeted. Tessa nodded back, and went over to Roller Brawl's bed. Gadgit pretended to go back to his work as Tessa counted down silently. _Three... two... one, _"Good morning Roller Brawl!" Tessa shouted in the vampire's ear.

Roller Brawl jolted awake. She scowled when she saw Tessa standing beside her and cackling. "That's no way to treat a senior officer," Roller Brawl grumbled.

Tessa pulled to attention, and snapped a mock salute. "Yes sir, sorry sir," Tessa said smartly. The effect was ruined by the broad smile on her face.

Roller Brawl shook her head and turned her attention to her partner. "Gadgit, how far away are they now?" the vampire asked. Gadgit shrugged, not turning around from whatever it was he was tinkering with. Tessa thought it looked like a small turret. Roller Brawl yawned, flashing her fangs, and got out of bed.

"I'm hungry," Roller Brawl stated. "I wonder, do you think they have steak around here?" she asked Tessa.

Tessa shrugged. "Probably. Want to go look for something to eat while we wait for Hex and Sprocket?" she suggested.

Roller Brawl grinned. "My thoughts exactly," the Skylander replied, walking out of tent. Tessa followed.

"Don't forget, I do actually need to eat as well," Gadgit called after them. Tessa flashed him a thumbs up, and departed the tent. She almost bumped into Roller Brawl, who was standing and staring at the village.

"Thorns," Tessa breathed, sobering up and looking around as well. The village was... wreaked. She hadn't really seen at it after the attack, being too busy carrying Ink in from the battle, and after that she'd been falling asleep on her feet as she'd made it to their tent.

But... Tessa hadn't seen many places that had been destroyed so completely. The high tech gates had been smashed to pieces, and the walls were torn and broken. The strong defences had obviously been no match for the sheer power in numbers of the horde. Inside the village proper, burnt out or smashed husks of buildings were all that remained. The numerous tents that had been erected as makeshift shelters and housing looked gaudy and out of place, their bright colours jarring with the dead surroundings. Tessa wished she'd gotten to the battle earlier. Maybe she could have prevented some of this damage if she'd been able to do more.

Roller Brawl shook Tessa out of her daze. The vampire had a grim expression on her face. "I wish we'd had the power to stop this," Roller Brawl said. Tessa nodded sadly, ears drooping.

Roller Brawl continued across the torn ground in silence, and Tessa tried to remind herself that it could have been worse. It didn't work, but it passed the time until they came to the large tent that had been turned into a mess hall.

Tessa was glad the place smelled so good, briefly taking her mind off the tragedy outside. The food was decent, too. Roller Brawl took some to Gadgit, and Tessa had a bench all to herself for a while.

"Good morning," a voice said behind her. Tessa turned around, and saw Ink. The hybrid was still wrapped up in bandages, but otherwise she seemed fine. Tessa had to envy her healing abilities. The hybrid was proving herself to be almost indestructible.

"Tessa!" Roller Brawl called from outside.

Tessa hurriedly got up from her seat. "Sorry, I have to go," Tessa told Ink, disappointed at having a chance to talk snatched from her, but still she jogged off towards the sound. She exited the tent, and saw the great golden, but dusty tank that was Sprocket's sitting in the middle of the courtyard. Tessa spotted Roller Brawl and Gadgit standing by the large vehicle talking to Sprocket and Hex, and she went over to them.

Gadgit was talking when she arrived. "Either way," he said, "We need to regain contact. Hopefully there's enough spare parts we can salvage from around here to build the communications device," the mechanic twitched his fingers, a sign he was impatient to get to building.

Sprocket nodded. "Are you sure we'll be allowed to use these parts? Won't the citizens still left needed them to rebuild?" The golding wondered, frowning in confusion.

Gadgit shook his head. "Most of the parts are unusable without the destroyed parts, and what's left is damaged and is only scrap. We're allowed to use what we need. The villagers are sending a party off to the closest city for aid and supplies, anyway," he replied.

Both Tech Skylanders began to argue animatedly about what kind of comms device to build, and Tessa left them to go talk to Hex and Roller Brawl.

"I hate that stupid tank," Hex was grumbling. Tessa and Roller Brawl laughed.

"I think that's a tad mean, considering how much you like the owner," Roller Brawl pointed out, chuckling. Hex just glared at the vampire, annoyed that her love life kept getting dragged into things. It had amused Roller Brawl to no end that the normally cold Hex had been one of the Skylanders to become romantically involved with someone, a rare occurrence among Skylanders due to the high mortality rate. As such, she brought up Hex's feelings for Sprocket as often as possible.

"Where was your patrol?" Tessa asked, changing the topic. It hadn't been her roster to send out the patrols yesterday, but she'd overheard Flynn talking about how 'interesting' the patrol area for Hex and Sprocket was for that day.

Hex turned to her, averting any more possible ribbing from Roller Brawl. "In some complex cave system called the Cavern, I think. The locals were having trouble with golems attacking over a mining mistake." The sorceress replied, shaking her head as if the villagers were idiots for getting into trouble with golems.

Tessa supposed that was pretty different to the normal patrol areas, but not _that_ interesting. Flynn had just been boasting again. The pilot Portal Anchor did that often, in attempts to impress Cali. She usually just rolled her eyes at Flynn whenever he did. He use to try the same thing Tessa, but she'd made it very clear he wasn't to come near here. He took her to her word, clearly terrified because of her background in military.

Suddenly, Hex narrowed her eyes. "Who's that?" The sorceress asked, gesturing. Tessa and Roller Brawl turned around. Ink was leaving the mess hall tent.

"Oh, that's only Ink. She saved Tessa and got saved in return during the battle. Why? What's wrong with her?" Roller Brawl replied, looking puzzled with her pale eyebrows drawn up together.

Without warning, Hex threw up bone walls all around Ink. The hybrid didn't even have time to react before Hex cuffed her hands together using magic.

"Wha-" Tessa began, taking a step, shocked. Roller Brawl's eyebrows raised even higher, and Gadgit and Sprocket stopped talking and looked at the caged hybrid, unsure as to what was going on. Hex ignored all of them and prowled over to Ink, the smoke that trailed her billowing red in her wake.

"You're under arrest," Hex told Ink. Ink raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really? What for?" The hybrid replied, non-plussed and ready to talk her way out of the confrontation, unsure of what she'd done but sure of her innocence.

"For being a blood mage," Hex replied, and a blast of magic sped from her fingertips, knocking the hybrid out cold.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Ink slumped in her pit, staring up at floating dust particles as they fell down through the shaft of twilight that breached the grille above. _I should never have gotten mixed up in this. I should have just continued home, I should have known they'd find out sooner rather than later, of course they'd have a Dark sniffer somewhere, _she berated herself for the umpteenth time, cursing silently. _This is what happens when you dream of heroes._

It had been a day since they had captured her. Soon, they'd finish whatever they were doing, and they were taking her with them for trial. Depending on where they were taking her, the consequences could vary, but at the very least she'd probably be killed. Blood magic was forbidden by one of the covenants the Church of Light had set, and most cities would execute her on the spot just for that.

She wished she could escape, but they'd blocked her magic somehow and she couldn't access anything, not her elemental abilities, nor her blood magic. She was effectively helpless.

And then when Tessa had visited her, she'd tried to explain everything. Tessa had stayed quiet while she'd talked, and when she was finished, Tessa had left. Ink doubted the other woman had believed her. Soon she'd die, and then Skylands would follow. And there was nothing she could do.

So when there was a tapping above her, she was more than surprised. The grille was heaved aside, light shooting in, and Ink was lowered down a ladder. She got shakily to her feet, bones clicking put of their frozen positions, and realised that her throat was parched and she was weak with hunger. She'd barely broken her fast before being captured, and she hadn't eaten since.

Ink grasped a rung of the ladder, and began the arduous process of hauling herself up. The pit wasn't that deep, otherwise they wouldn't have thrown her down it, but she still had to stop and rest her head on the ladder several times. She wondered if she'd been made this helpless on purpose.

When she reached the top, she was offered a hand up. She was so drained she took it. Unsurprisingly the sorceress was waiting up top for her, but the roller skating vampire with the easy smile was the one who gave her a hand up. Ink staggered away from the pit, and collapsed, gasping for breath. Her heart hammered rapidly in her chest, and instinctively she reached for her blood magic to help her weak heart pump. But it wasn't there, just a foreign presence that stung her as she reached for it. Had she really regained her symptoms so quickly after the loss of her magic? She'd been slightly nauseated the day before, and she'd redeveloped her hacking cough… surely she hadn't gone so far already?

The vampire knelt by her as the attack continued, concerned. "Hex, help her. I see blood on the grass where she's coughing."

The sorceress sighed, and waved a hand. Ink gasped, sucking in air, and the pain in her chest subsided as her heart rate slowed. She got to her feet, and with another wave of her hand, the sorceress bound her in the glittering cuffs. "Don't make any trouble, or it'll be worse for you," the vampire smiled, the last rays of sun illuminating the points of her long canines. Ink nodded her head. What were they, fools? She couldn't possibly do anything in this state, and she couldn't reach her magic. She was at their mercy, well and truly.

They led her to a burnt out garage, half collapsed in the back and with fallen beams turned into makeshift support columns for the rest of the sagging roof. She saw the golden tank she'd glimpsed briefly before her capture stowed inside, and the other Skylanders plus a raptor official were waiting for her around an improvised Far Viewer screen. Her guards flanked her inside, and pushed her to her knees.

Once he noticed her, the fox sitting by the command board pulled down his googles, tapped the air a few times, and a call signal appeared on-screen. The golding sitting next to him snorted. "Are you so paranoid, Gadgit, that you'll hide your interface from the blood mage?" She asked, shooting him an amused look. Gadgit narrowed his eyes at her and glared, though his look was blurred by his goggle lenses.

The screen flashed a connection symbol, and a purple dragon appeared, standing next to a charcoal stallion and a human with black markings around his eyes. Ink recognised two of them instantly. The dragon was Spyro, the leader of the Skylanders, and the human was the once Dark Portal Master Kaos. Ink felt a little better that Kaos was here. He was a seer, she could tell him her visions and possibly even show them. Could she transmit through the screen?

Spyro dipped his head in greeting. "Hello, Skylanders. Hello, Major," the raptor nodded back stiffly. Spyro then swivelled his head and locked onto her. Ink looked into his stern purple eyes, and quickly averted her gaze. Normally she'd hold until he looked away, but now was not the time for her pride.

Spyro turned to the stallion. "Read her the covenant," he commanded. The horse nodded, and tapped at something they couldn't see to the left of the screen. He cleared his throat.

"Ahem. It says... thou shall not use the blood of others, thou shall not make magic in this way. If thou use this stolen life in spells, thou shall be condemned to the Underworld."

Ink didn't react. She'd heard this so many times before. It was a silly verse, one that could really only be described as cheesy and sad in this day and age, though she doubted many had heeded its words in the past. They were fools, all of them, if they thought she would be fazed. She'd explain it to them and they'd see.

Spyro frowned at her reaction, or rather the lack of it, and narrowed his eyes at her. He reeled back in shock. "This is our blood mage? Didn't you check out her other magical signatures? She's also a _seer_," he growled, rounding on the sorceress, who scowled back.

"So? She's a blood mage. Who cares what else she is, when she uses the blood of innocents to perform her wicked spells," she spat, clenching her fists. The smoke that pooled around her feet began to bleed red into the white again.

Ink coughed, containing laughter. Who was she to talk? She was a witch. If they were going to get into blaming magic disciplines then being a witch really took the cake. And wicked spells, really? Clearly the stallion thought the same way, because he snorted and shot a pointed look at Hex, who ignored him.

Kaos eyed her carefully, the black around his eyes crinkling as he studied her. "Are you a seer?" He asked, tilting his head as if rotating the problem would make the answer clearer. Ink gave him a nod, and reached over to the screen pressing her fingers against it. Kaos gasped, and his knees buckled. She was dragged back from the screen, and the sorceress started to chant a spell that could have been nasty for Ink if Kaos hadn't stood up again and waved her off. Kaos was shaking as he turned to her.

"You've been seeing that?" The Portal Master's pupils were dilated, and a look of pure shock turned his featues into something almost comical. Ink didn't blame him. The vision she'd shown him was nasty, but at least he knew now.

Spyro glanced between the two of them. "What has she been seeing?" The dragon asked the question Ink could feel the others dying to ask.

"Disaster," Kaos answered back, "in the form of Elements."


End file.
